The Last Goodbye revised
by cadeeo
Summary: revised version. old vers. on my homepage. Lily comes to Spinner's End close to Halloween. DH spoilers.


The Last Goodbye

Revised Version

-

Severus Snape looked up by the sudden knock on his door. He frowned, wondering who knew he lived at Spinner's End and whomever few did rarely visited. Though the old house held memories best left forgotten, he couldn't get himself to move out, partly because it served as a good shelter and because, well… he could walk the few minutes to get to the rusty old swings and he memories of Lily would overwhelm him. He was too selfish to even consider letting go of those memories just yet.

The springs in the old armchair sang in protest as he got up and slowly made his way to the oak door and disarmed the dozen spells activated to hold away his enemies. Only a very select few could get past these guards and he instantly felt something akin to excitement.

,,Hi.''

He stared in shock at the redheaded woman standing on his doorstep with a black-haired infant cuddled in her arms.

,,Lily?''

She was staring at her feet and she seemed almost awkward and nervous. Almost like the few times she had had to nerve to show up at Spinner's End in the early Hogwarts years, when they had still been the friends.

To say things had changed between them would have been the understatement of the century.

,,Can I come in?'' she asked softly.

Speechless, he let her in and suddenly realised the house was a mess, at least by his usual standards. Lily had always joked about how anal he was, but at that moment books and ingredients lay strewn around and Snape noticed how her brilliant green eyes widened in surprise. He should have taken her out. This was no place for a lady such as her, but he also knew that if they were seen together by the wrong people, she would suffer a fate far worse than death.

,,Can I offer you anything?'' he asked awkwardly.

The little boy in her arms reached his little fat hands out towards him and he found himself studying a pair of very familiar green eyes. The boy had taken his eyes after his mother, which Snape thought was a blessing with a father such as James Potter.

Lily smiled at the boy's childish trust. ,,His name is Harry.''

,,Lil… Mrs Potter,'' he said, correcting himself. He had lost the right to call her Lily the day he had shouted Mudblood at her in anger and embarrassment. ,,Might I ask what you are doing here?''

He heard her breathe in sharply, but her hair covered her face as she bent down to remove a couple of ancient potion books from a kitchen chair.

,,You can call me Lily if you want,'' she said, gently stroking Harry's hair.

Snape felt a sudden overwhelming burning in his chest. A dream long forgotten swept to the surface again, but he had to force the pictures away, otherwise he was not sure what he would do.

,,Sev,'' she said softly, eyes locked on little Harry's innocent face. ,,I'm sorry for how we parted.''

,,No one is more sorry than I… Lily,' he studied her instantly and wondered how she had even dared to go outside with the Dark Lord's death warrant hanging over her head.

,,I know you joined the Death Easters.''

Snape couldn't help but flinch by the harsh truth, even though he had always known she would figure it out. He fell into the chair beside her and she slowly took his hand.

,,I need to know that you wont hurt my son. I couldn't live if something happened to him,'' she told him. ,,I know I have no right and I feel bloody ridiculous. It's just… I don't think I will survive.''

He looked at her in horror. What would she do if she knew he had been the one to deem her to this path in the first place? She certainly wouldn't be here, pleading with him to not hurt the infant she had gotten with some other man who he, above all, hated more than his deceased drunk of a father.

,,Run away, Lily.''

Severus Snape was a collected person, the perfect Slytherin, but when it came to one Lily Evans… Potter, other laws seemed to apply.

,,Go to America or Russia, my mother has relatives there, but don't stay here!''

She let go of his hand, but he kept holding it tightly and knelt down on his knees in front of her so he could look straight at her. It was pathetic, but this was his chance to make amends, maybe his only chance.

,,Sev…'' she started, avoiding his determined eyes.

,,Listen to me! The Dark Lord has targeted your son as his biggest adversary. He will not stop at anything. He _will_ kill… you.''

Finally, she looked up with suspicion. ,,How would you know?''

,,Lily, please trust me. I know enough. You need to take your son… your… husband and get out of Britain. Please!'' he pleaded.

,,How can I trust anything you say? You are nothing but a simple Death Eater!'' she said loudly, making Harry cry in the process.

,,Then why are you here?''

She stood up and left him on the floor, while she frantically tried to calm her son down. Tears leaked down her cheeks and Snape mentally berated him for causing her distress of any sort.

,,Just promise me, Severus. Promise me you will take care of my son. Not James' son. _My_ son.''

,,Please, Lily. Please!''

,,I have to fight back. I can't run,'' she said, looking determined, through her voice was shaking.

He stood up and once again placed himself in her line of sight. ,,Even if it costs you your life?''

,,Yes.''

,,I promise.'' There was nothing left to say. She was not like him who had succumbed too easily to the Dark Lord's magnificent tales of blood superiority and a world were witches and wizards did not have to die. She would fight… even if she would die in the process.

,,Thank you.''

,,I will always be your friend, even if you do not want me to be. Do you understand this? There will always be a way out. All you have to do is ask,'' he told her. ,,I _will_ be there for you.''

,,Yes,'' she replied, eyes downcast.

He put his hand on her shoulder and forced her to look at him. ,,Do you understand?''

She had to understand he would go to the end of the world for her, give her everything if she asked. He would hide her and her son, even if it meant hiding the awful Potter, too. She had to understand he loved her…

,,Yes,'' she said determined and frowned because of what he was sure she saw. ,,I understand.''

Severus Snape looked after her as she disappeared around the corner to Spinner's End and out off his sight.

He sneered at the pumpkins in front of his dreadful neighbour's front door and Disapperated to Hogsmeade.

-

Finish (Revised on January 6th, 2010)

Original posted on my homepage.


End file.
